College Football Week 10 Winners And Losers: Ohio State's Death Star Is Operational

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This play is Ohio State's 3rd effort astatine winning a repetition nationalist title this century, and each of nan past 2 were covered breathlessly successful nan Buckeye State and beyond. The Buckeyes appeared connected nan screen of SI to statesman 2003, and generated best-team-of-all-time talk entering 2015.

It is strange, then, that Ohio State's 2025 outfit has flown nether nan radar a small bit. It is particularly unusual because this squad is leaps and bounds amended than nan '03 team, and perchance amended than nan uber-talented '15 squad arsenic well. In 8 games this season, nan Buckeyes person demonstrated almost nary weakness, and they seemed unbothered by a uncommon off-quarter Saturday successful a 38–13 triumph complete Penn State.

Maybe Indiana's emergence and an anarchic twelvemonth astatine nan apical of nan polls person sucked immoderate location and nationalist oxygen distant from Columbus. Ohio State continues to triumph anyway. Here's hoping, sloppy of its societal media impressions, that your team's play was axenic this All Saints' Day.

You knew nan Buckeyes could defend—their 5.9 point-per-game scoring defense entering Saturday has been cited into nan ground. You knew wide receivers Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate, some early NFL stars, could catch. Saturday, however, marked a coming-out statement for backmost Julian Sayin. In beforehand of (presumably) a monolithic tv audience, Sayin completed 20 of 23 passes for 316 yards and 4 touchdowns against past year's nationalist title-winning protect coordinator successful Jim Knowles. The Solana Beach, Calif., autochthonal would beryllium wise to artifact disconnected nan 2nd play of December for a imaginable travel to New York.

Loser: ESPN and YouTube TV

This play brought an epic showdown betwixt 2 of nan astir malevolent actors successful American life—but capable astir Georgia and Florida fans (we kid! we kid!). YouTube TV's highly nationalist carriage conflict pinch Disney burnt nan full sports world this weekend, but peculiarly assemblage football, wherever ESPN's near-monopoly powerfulness complete nan athletics has been a subject of scholarly attention for 15 years. That's not to absolve YouTube TV, whose price-hiking addiction makes Your Local Podunk CableSystem look much enticing by nan day. Though Fox is its judge, assemblage and executioner, nan Big Ten's determination to divvy up its TV authorities betwixt that network, CBS and NBC was a savvy move successful a media abstraction discouraging of title and hateful toward consumers.

SMU Mustangs caput coach Rhett Lashlee celebrates aft nan Mustangs people a touchdown against nan Miami Hurricanes. / Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Lashlee, nan proprietor of nan astir Southern first sanction a quality being tin have, looked for illustration a slam-dunk campaigner for 1 of nan SEC's unfastened jobs this offseason—perhaps Florida, LSU aliases Arkansas, his alma mater. Instead, he pulled disconnected nan admirable two-step of signing an hold and instantly opinionated connected business. On Friday, he locked himself in for 2 much years pinch SMU; connected Saturday, he steered nan Mustangs to a 26–20 overtime triumph complete No. 10 Miami, his erstwhile squad (the Hurricanes helped SMU retired pinch 12 penalties for 96 yards). The Mustangs, arsenic they did successful their 1930s and 1980s heydays, person resources to spare—even if they're stepping backmost this year, don't deliberation 2024's College Football Playoff travel was an aberration.

Loser: Clemson

Remember 2021, erstwhile Clemson's 10-3 play was considered a monolithic flop? A twelvemonth for illustration that looks beautiful appetizing to Tigers fans correct now, particularly aft what happened against Duke Saturday. The Blue Devils scored pinch 40 seconds near to down Clemson 46–45—their first win astatine Memorial Stadium since Jimmy Carter was president. The Tigers, ACC champions and CFP qualifiers past year, now will person to triumph 3 of their last 4 games to attain vessel eligibility (no guarantee—Louisville and South Carolina loom). Clemson has not missed a vessel crippled since 2004 and has not had a losing play since 1998.

It took a constellation of favorable circumstances Friday—namely Syracuse's backmost room wholly falling apart—but North Carolina coach Bill Belichick finally picked up his first ACC win. The Tar Heels legitimately dominated a disappointing Orange team, outgaining Syracuse 425–147 en way to a 27–10 victory. Quarterback Gio Lopez was businesslike (16-for-19 for 216 yards and 2 touchdowns), and moving backmost Demon June led some teams successful receiving and rushing. Baby steps for an improving North Carolina team, which hosts Stanford earlier closing its play pinch each 3 of its Tobacco Road rivals.

Loser: LSU—back successful nan 1930s

Former Louisiana Senator and Governor Huey Long has been dormant for 90 years, and yet his sanction was connected nan lips of fans astir nan authorities this week arsenic LSU honored its practice arsenic a cauldron of shot and governmental intrigue. To recap: Republican Governor Jeff Landry publicly announced that diversion head Scott Woodward would not prosecute nan Tigers' replacement for fired coach Brian Kelly; LSU and Woodward parted ways; longtime authorities Democratic powerfulness agent James Carville suggested Woodward should sue Landry for libel (that each politco progressive is simply a Tigers superfan arsenic Long was should spell without saying). The upshot present is that, arsenic prestigious of a programme arsenic LSU is, this hardly seems for illustration an enticing business for a coach to enter. Counterpoint: nan Tigers lured 2 Hall of Famers (Biff Jones and Bennie Moore) while Long was successful office.

At clip of writing, location are six teams tied atop nan American standings successful nan nonaccomplishment file pinch 1 apiece. A little breakdown of assemblage football's astir breathtaking convention race: North Texas (4-1 successful nan conference) hit unbeaten underdog Navy (5-1) Saturday successful a non-upset upset; Memphis (4-1) dominated Rice 38–14 Friday connected nationalist television; South Florida (3-1) took nan week off; UTSA crushed Tulane (3-1) 48–26 Thursday; East Carolina (3-1) blew retired an improved Temple squad 45–14 Saturday. Got each that? It'd beryllium a stunner if a Group of Five CFP typical didn't look from this league, whose .573 corporate winning percent is simply a convention record.

Loser: Vanderbilt—but not by much

Texas Longhorns protect lineman Ethan Burke sacks Vanderbilt Commodores backmost Diego Pavia. / Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

It looked for illustration Texas and backmost Arch Manning (playing his astir complete crippled of nan season) were going to tally this season's champion communicative retired of Austin Saturday afternoon, arsenic nan Longhorns jumped retired to a 24–3 lead. Not truthful fast—Vanderbilt scored 21 unanswered points successful nan 4th fourth and came unsettlingly adjacent to recovering a last onside footwear late. On paper, Texas is much talented than nan Commodores and showed them a glimpse of a frontier they person yet to cross. In nan adjacent term, if Vanderbilt tin clasp service against Auburn and Kentucky, a CFP loser-leaves-town crippled looms against Tennessee connected Nov. 29.

Before it had aerial conditioning and Cormac McCarthy, nan American Southwest had nan Border Conference. From 1931 to '61, 9 teams played connected and disconnected successful a convention centered astir what astatine nan clip was a sparsely populated area of nan country. No squad won that convention much often than Texas Tech, and connected Saturday nan Red Raiders crushed Kansas State 43–20 to group up their biggest crippled successful years against BYU adjacent Saturday (College GameDay will beryllium there). Less successful successful that convention was New Mexico—but connected Saturday, nan Lobos hit UNLV to go bowl-eligible for nan first clip since 2016. Even nan ancient conference's little fortunate programs fared well; Division III Hardin-Simmons shelled Howard Payne 54–24.

Loser: Michigan State

Ahead of its crippled against Minnesota Saturday, Michigan State benched backmost Aidan Chiles—a quasi-admission of conclusion for coach Jonathan Smith, who brought Chiles pinch him from Oregon State aft nan 2023 season. His replacement, Alessio Milivojevic, played good but led his squad to a 23–20 overtime loss. November is nary clip for a backmost contention anywhere—least of each successful East Lansing, Mich., wherever nan Spartans will request to hit Penn State, Iowa and Maryland successful succession to suffice for their first vessel crippled since 2021. An personality situation abounds astatine a schoolhouse light-years from its 2010s success.